Spotify apologized for being unclear about changes to its privacy policy that everyone was freaking out about this week

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek apologized Friday for not doing a good job
of communicating recent changes the streaming music
company
has made to its privacy policy.

In a blog post, simply titled "SORRY" on the company's
website, Ek writes that Spotify "should have done a better
job in communicating what these policies mean and how any
information you choose to share will — and will not — be
used."

In short, Ek says that Spotify will never use information like
your location, your photos, and your contacts without asking for
your permission first.

Ek explains in the blog post that if a person gives permission to
the company to use this data, it will only use it in order to
personalize the service.

And if you want to listen to music on Spotify without
handing any of this data over to the company, that's fine
too.

For example, Ek writes that Spotify may ask to access your
location in order to give recommendations based on what
other people around you are listening to. Or the company may ask
for permission to access your photos so you can create
cover art for a playlist you make.

Ek also writes that the company won't ever use your device's
microphone without asking you for "explicit permission." The
company, he said, may work on voice-control features in upcoming
versions of the product.

Ek's blog post came in reaction to widespread outrage over
changes to the company's privacy policy, which according to
Spotify was last updated on Wednesday.

It's of course never a good time for a company to get negative
publicity like this, but it's particularly bad timing
for Spotify. The company has been working hard to build
features that set it apart from Apple Music, and so far, it
seems to be working.

Even though people feared that Apple's entrance into
the on-demand streaming music market could be bad news for
Spotify, the Stockholm-based company seems to be holding its
own against Apple.

Apple Music has been panned by critics and users alike, and
at the same time, Spotify's new music discovery
features seem to have been well-received.

We are in the middle of rolling out new terms and conditions
and privacy policy and they’ve caused a lot of confusion about
what kind of information we access and what we do with it. We
apologize for that. We should have done a better job in
communicating what these policies mean and how any information
you choose to share will – and will not – be used.

We understand people’s concerns about their personal
information and are 100 percent committed to protecting our
users’ privacy and ensuring that you have control over the
information you share.

So let me try and clear things up.

In our new privacy policy, we indicated that we may ask your
permission to access new types of information, including
photos, mobile device location, voice controls, and your
contacts. Let me be crystal clear here: If you don’t want to
share this kind of information, you don’t have to. We will ask
for your express permission before accessing any of this data –
and we will only use it for specific purposes that will allow
you to customize your Spotify experience.

Photos: We will never access your photos without explicit
permission and we will never scan or import your photo library
or camera roll. If you give us permission to access photos, we
will only use or access images that you specifically choose to
share. Those photos would only be used in ways you choose and
control – to create personalized cover art for a playlist or to
change your profile image, for example.

Location: We will never gather or use the location of your
mobile device without your explicit permission. We would use it
to help personalize recommendations or to keep you up to date
about music trending in your area. And if you choose to share
location information but later change your mind, you will
always have the ability to stop sharing.

Voice: We will never access your microphone without your
permission. Many people like to use Spotify in a hands-free
way, and we may build voice controls into future versions of
the product that will allow you to skip tracks, or pause, or
otherwise navigate the app. You will always have the ability to
disable voice controls.

Contacts: We will never scan or import your contacts without
your permission. Spotify is a social platform and many people
like to share playlists and music they discover with their
friends. In the future, we may want to give you the ability to
find your friends on Spotify by searching for Spotify users in
your contacts if you choose to do that.

Sharing: The Privacy Policy also mentions advertisers, rights
holders and mobile networks. This is not new. With regard to
mobile networks, some Spotify subscribers sign up through their
mobile provider, which means some information is shared with
them by necessity. We also share some data with our partners
who help us with marketing and advertising efforts, but this
information is de-identified – your personal information is not
shared with them.

Again, we have heard your concerns loud and clear. We are also
going to update the new Privacy Policy in the coming weeks to
better reflect what we have explained above. If you have any
questions or concerns, please let us know by emailing us at
privacy@spotify.com. We’re listening to you and we take your
concerns very seriously.